Propaganda
pieces normally contain an indisputable kernel of truth, which is
then artfully embellished with innuendo, distortions, and half-truths.
By that standard, the upcoming PBS program, Breaking the Silence:
Children’s Stories, doesn’t even qualify as good fiction.

The
program is so larded with Leftist fantasies and sweeping stereotypes
you begin to wonder if producers Dominique Lasseur and Catherine Tatge
thought they were doing a special for Sesame Street. A nice bedtime
story wouldn’t be so bad, except this tale targets fathers and families.

Breaking
the Silence leads off with this whopper: “One-third of mothers lose
custody to abusive husbands.” That outrageous statement contains two
falsehoods.

First,
divorced fathers win custody of their children only 15% of the time,
so the one-third figure is obviously suspect.

Second,
women are known to be just as abusive as men. As a recent report from
the Independent Women’s Forum notes, “approximately half of all couple
violence is mutual…when only one partner is abusive, it is as likely
to be the woman as the man.” [Read]

Continuing
its mean-spirited dissing of dads, Breaking the Silence goes on to
claim that children are “most often in danger from the father.” Apparently
the producers never bothered to read the recent report from the US
Department of Health and Human Services which reveals that the majority
of perpetrators of child abuse and neglect are female. [Read]

But
the real objective of the PBS fusillade is to whitewash the problem
of Parental Alienation Syndrome. Divorcing parents – usually mothers
– sometimes try to turn the children against the other parent. If
the mother can claim that the kids are refusing to talk to dad, she
is almost certain to win child custody.

John
Gray, PhD, author of the best-selling book, Men are from Mars,
Women are from Venus, describes women he has seen who “will do
all sorts of things to prevent the father from taking charge of the
children, then they’ll turn around and say the father doesn’t participate.”

The
problem of brainwashing moms is well-known to lawyers, attorneys,
and psychologists. I’ve seen this problem myself, and the long-term
effects on children can be so profound that I consider it one of the
most pernicious forms of child abuse.

But
the rad-fems want to keep the lid tightly sealed on PAS, since it
is one of their most effective ploys for excluding fathers. And gaining
child custody is a mother’s meal ticket to many years of tax-free
child support. So Breaking the Silence does everything to discredit
PAS, calling it “junk science” and a psychological “invention.”

To
lend the veneer of scientific respectability, the producers brought
in Joan Meier, a law professor at George Washington University. But
Meier brings her own set of credibility problems. In a recent interview,
she made this claim from left field: “batterers are twice as likely
to contest as non-batterers. And they often win sole or joint custody.”
[Read]

Maybe
Meier was suffering from a brain cramp that day. Or perhaps she was
thinking of Clara Harris, the Texas woman who fatally battered her
husband by driving over him with her car. Just seven months after
her murder conviction, Harris was granted custody of her two five-year-old
boys.

So
why would PBS engage in this wanton abuse of truth? The answer lies
in the broader feminist crusade to overturn the Patriarchy. Get dad
out of the picture, they say, and the children will grow up to be
more enlightened human beings.

But
research proves the opposite is true. Countless studies show that
kids with absent dads do far worse on a broad range of academic, social,
and psychological indicators. [Read]

Joseph
Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, is credited with the concept
of the Big Lie. Repeat a falsehood a thousand times, and it becomes
the truth.

In
1935, the Big Lie claimed that Jewish bankers and businessmen were
wrecking the German economy, which necessitated their forced removal
from society. Seventy years later, the Big Lie would have you believe
fathers constitute a menace to women and children, so their exclusion
is necessary as well.

Last
Thursday at 10pm, the Public Broadcasting Corporation aired the latest
incarnation of the Big Lie. Contact your local PBS station at [Read].

Carey Roberts is an analyst and commentator on
political correctness. His best-known work was an exposé on Marxism and
radical feminism. Mr. Roberts’ work has been cited on the Rush Limbaugh
show.

Besides serving as a regular contributor to NewsWithViews.com,
he has published in The Washington Times, LewRockwell.com, RenewAmerica.us,
ifeminists.net, Men’s News Daily, eco.freedom.org, The Federal Observer,
Opinion Editorials, and The Right Report.

Previously, he served on active duty in the Army,
was a professor of psychology, and was a citizen-lobbyist in the US Congress.
In his spare time he admires Norman Rockwell paintings, collects antiques,
and is an avid soccer fan. He now works as an independent researcher and
consultant.